Fall restraint equipment may include platforms, ramps, bridges, steps, guardrails, gangways, cages, and other structures. Gangways, for instance, may be used to provide access to an area, such as the top of a storage container. For example, a semi-trailer truck or a railroad carriage transporting loadable material may need to be loaded or unloaded from the container's top. A gangway is used to provide workers a path to an access hatch on top of the container. A cage may be located at the distal end of the gangway to surround the area on top of the container where the worker will be standing.
The access hatch is generally pivoted on an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the container. With a traditional rectangular cage, it may not be possible to open the hatch cover entirely. This is because the railings of the cage interfere with the hatch cover as it is pivoted to its open position. It will be appreciated that a partially open hatch cover may make loading or unloading of the container contents more difficult.
An effort to address this concern is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,216,741. That patent shows an arrangement wherein portions of the cage's rail structure are configured to pivot in and up so as to allow more room for the hatch cover to open. Further room for improvement exists in the art.